Running round the West Coast in a C-HR

So what's the big deal running around the West Coast ?

well no.. not where the greater southern waterfront is.. it's the Pacific West Coast and the PCH aka Pacific Coast Highway 

 A little jaunt from Seattle down to SF with side trips to Olympic National Park and some other nice spots. This journey offers nice B roads, lots of scenery and good food 

 

I wanted to try a car which I might consider buying and I wanted a SUV so it came down to the RAV4 or the CHR depending what was available. Both use the same 2.0l with the CVT  

As fate decided there was only one .. my Black Steed fitted with 18" rims no less. 

The C-HR is no stranger to us, it's a ubiquitous PHV in back home but here it uses a 2 liter naturally aspirated engine with the same CVT tranny.

The car had to take two of us along with luggage and two weeks of shopping, which is no mean feat, I'll have you know...

Thankfully it was up to the task, swallowing four bags, two backpacks and a large box with great aplomb. Sure you need to fold down the seats if you want quick access and the sloping rear hatch doesn't do its load carrying function any favors.

The interior is tighter than a Vezel but for us it was cosy. The front seats wrap nicely around you and it sits a lot lower than the typical SUV. But then again it's no real mud eating 4x4, more of a hatch on mildly elevated stilts.

The interior is typically Toyota with the omnipresent retro clock and the diamond shaped motifs all over. The build is excellent with no rattles, even after 21000 miles of abuse by other renters. It won't impress those looking for all round soft touch materials but thing look built to last. The cockpit wraps around the driver and controls generally fall into reach easily. The short stubby gear shift is solid but I wished it was longer. No paddle shifters sadly and no HUD. But here stateside you get a full suite of features with CarPlay and a real set of safety features. Lane departure warning, rear side detectors, blind spot detectors, and my favorite: active cruise control. More on that later...
Visibility, like space is a bit compromised at the rear, although front visibility is excellent. The upside of such a compact car is that you point and it zips through, parking is easy and your fuel consumption is great. 33.5 mpg great in fact, which is around 14-15 km/l, which helps when the fuel tank is quite small..

You get DRL here with a full LED headlamp package and CarPlay but the stereo is decidedly weak.. it begs for a ICE and speaker overhaul..

The engine has been with us in many iterations and being a naturally aspirated engine it doesn't give that kick when you take off, but at highway cruising it is more than adequate. It also has enough power for the mountain roads and the CVT pairs well to keep it in the power zone. Furthermore with varying road speeds, frequent gear changes won't upset or burn out the clutch because there isn't one ☝️.

On the open road you can easily hit high speeds and wind road is ok, allowing you to talk easily. No Lexus silence here, but it's fine. Tire roar on lousy interstate sections does get fatiguing but they are only intermittent thankfully.

But onto that active cruise control... it measures distance and allows the car to adjust speeds accordingly ... very neat and will slow the car down then pick up speed to keep up with the car in front.

With car like agility and a lower stance you are encouraged to take corners more aggressively and the chassis is nimble. This car shares the BRZ chassis and it shows.. in winding roads, where road holding matters more than power, you can show larger capacity engine cars a clean pair of heels easily and you can corner 10-20 mph more than the suggested speed on the sign. Throwing it into bends will bring a big smile on your face. I think the 2l is a better match than the 1.2 turbo we have in long distance driving.